


Eliot vs the Tangled Christmas Tree Lights

by shanachie



Series: Holiday Prompts 2016 [9]
Category: Leverage, The Librarians (TV 2014)
Genre: Multi, Surprise! - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-28
Updated: 2017-01-28
Packaged: 2018-09-20 09:34:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9485201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shanachie/pseuds/shanachie
Summary: Fandom: Leverage (feeling old school!)Character or pairing: Parker/Hardison or the OT3(P/H/E)Prompt: Eliot vs Tangled Christmas Tree Lights! Or, if that doesn't inspire you, literally anything that is happy will do!





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [serenelystrange](https://archiveofourown.org/users/serenelystrange/gifts).



Eliot could have sworn that when he put the lights away in January, they were neat and organized. Now, they were tangled and a ridiculous mess. Like always.

“Hardison?” he called. “Have you been in the Christmas lights?”

“No, man,” the hacker stuck his head into the storage room, “I know better than to touch your OCD holiday stuff.” He looked down at Eliot, who was sitting on the floor. “Why?”

“Look at this mess.” Eliot gestured at the boxes and piles around him.

“I dunno. Did you put them away neatly?”

Eliot growled in response. Hardison held up his hands. “Just asking, dude.” He held out the coffee cup he’d been cradling. “You want this? It might help.”

“No, what I want is to get these straightened out before Jake gets here.”

Hardison’s eyes lit up at the reminder. “When is your cousin getting here?”

“Three hours so I don’t have much time.”

Nodding towards the tangled mess, Hardison asked, “You want help with that then?”

“No. I want you to _leave_ me alone so I can work on this.”

The hacker held his hands up in surrender. “Okay, I’ll leave you alone with your crazy.”

“I’m not crazy!” Eliot yelled after him. “You’re the crazy one!” He turned back to the pile of lights once Hardison left the storage room and absolutely did not let out a sigh. “I _know_ I packed these away neatly at the end of last season.”

 

 

Two and a half hours later, all Eliot had to show for his work was a lot of frustration. The lights were still a snarled mess and he wasn’t done with any of the decorating.

“What’s wrong, Eliot?” Parker’s voice came from above him.

Eliot flicked his gaze upwards to find Parker hanging upside down from one of the beams above him. “The lights are a mess, Parker. And Jake will be here soon.”

She twisted around, hanging from the ceiling for a few minutes, before dropping to the floor. “Why not just buy new ones?”

“That’s not the point of Christmas lights,” he replied. “Some of it’s the tradition. Some of it’s the memories.” He looked down at the mess. “I just…”

She picked up a strand and grinned as half the pile came with it. “So fix it? You’re awesome that way.”

Eliot growled in response. “It’s not that easy. I’ve been _trying_ to fix it for _almost_ three hours!”

“Can I help?”

Eliot sighed. “It’s not like you could make it any worse.”

Parker dropped down to the floor, crossing her legs, and beginning to poke through the tangled mess. While she did that, Eliot finished with the rest of the decorations. The tree was up, but they wouldn’t put any ornaments on it until Jake arrived.

With a triumphant noise, Parker held up one end of the strand, most of it untangled. “Eliot?”

“Good work, Parker,” he praised. The lights had been frustrating him for so long, but at least someone was getting them fixed. He took the strand from her and started to leave the room. The clump that was still tangled came with him. “Can you get the rest?”

Parker poked at the lights before nodding. “I can. Do I get the climb up and hang them?”

“You can help, darlin’.”

Working together, they were able to get almost all of the lights up before there was a crashing sound and bright lights appeared behind the outside door. Parker ducked behind Eliot, still not used to the way his cousin appeared, but intrigued by Jake all the same.

The door popped open and Jake Stone sauntered out, smiling when he caught sight of Eliot. “Hey, cuz.”

“Hey, Jake,” Eliot responded. “Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas,” Jake responded. He looked around the living room, taking in the decorations. “Did something happen to the lights?”

“I don’t want to talk about the damn lights,” Eliot growled.

Parker giggled, skipping around Eliot to throw her arms around Jake. “Hi! The lights didn’t like Eliot, but I almost got them finished.”

“Looks like the tree needs some decorations, too.”

“That was just waiting for you,” Eliot pointed out.

“Show me where to put my bag? And we can decorate?” Jake indicated the bag he’d dropped when Parker hugged him.

“I’ve got it,” Hardison said as he joined them from the other room. “Good to see you, man.”

“Thanks, Alec,” Jake responded.

Eliot watched as Parker pulled Jake around the room, showing him the lights and other decorations as she explained everything. It was good to have his cousin home for the holidays. It had been a long time since they’d been able to celebrate together.

 

_I’m not sure this is exactly what you wanted, but it’s what I came up with… Hope you enjoyed._


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